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Why I will never be purchasing from FT86 Motorsports again
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I had seen several folks over the years make mention of their poor experience with FT86 Motorsports, but had yet to experience it first hand until today.
Needless to say, I will be purchasing all products from elsewhere from here on out. I wanted to share the email thread, as I think it provides a candid view of the type of service and communication you can expect from that company. Rude and unprofessional would be a compliment. |
Time to open a chargeback!
F these guys Sent from my SM-A705W using Tapatalk |
I wouldn't expect a vendor to address an issue 5 months after shipment, unless it's an issue that can only be discovered in service.
You should have opened the box and inspected the item once you got it. As for the expected quality, price certainly plays a role. Would you complain of a loose stich on a $3 Walmart shirt? How about on a $500 Italian hand sewn shirt? You haven't posted pictures of the supposed defects so we can't judge how bad it is. Customer service could certainly have responded in a more flowery manner, but the bottom line of "you get what you pay for" would still have been the same. And if this is "by far one of the most ridiculously rude conversion" you have with customer service, I applaud you for your sheltered life. |
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Your shirt analogy holds water about as well as a colander. You can still wear the shirt if there is a thread coming off of it, or even if the logos were off-centered. The wing doesn't even fit on the car, its not useable. The cosmetic flaw I mentioned and showed them, I would be willing to live with given the price, but the product can't even be installed. Should I have done a closer inspection of the product, taken my car out of storage in the middle of winter and test fit it, because I should just assume that unless I am buying the top of the line products, they are just junk and there is a 50/50 chance its a paperweight... yeah, sure I guess I could have. Edit: Just so its clear, I understand that I probably should not have assumed that the product was going to be in usable condition, but I also think it's slightly ridiculous to assume its not? This thread is more so about pointing out the lack of professionalism in communication. |
Why not share the pictures of the defects and how they affect your ability to install the wing?
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The first shows the consmetic flaw in the top of the spoiler, again this one I am not happy about but can live with. The other two show parts on the underside that are more prominent and cause the wing to not make good contact all the way around the wing. No matter how much pressure is applied. Whether I bought the wing a day, a month ago or five months ago shouldn't matter. I know that if I ran business and someone came to me with this, I certainly wouldn't be speaking to them that way, regardless of their claims. There is a way to conduct yourself, and that ain't it. Again, this post is about why I will not be doing business with a place that communicates that way with its customers. You still want to? No problem, enjoy your experience. |
I see Sylvain has demoted himself from "Owner" to "Customer Service" :lol:
Sorry to hear about the wing, that really is unfortunate to hear. Best of luck with it, I hope you're able to make it work. |
Their responses were curt but it's very possible that you're both in the wrong.:cheers:
And yes, you should have tried testing fitting it in the middle of winter to make sure it fit. Or maybe I'm the only one that doesn't store their car for winter and loves putting mods on asap. :iono: Some cheap stuff does work but you really have to do your homework. The "buy once cry once" folks will show no sympathy for your post. :popcorn: Quote:
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It may also be worth noting that up until this point, I was a regular customer there and I am within 35 minutes of the door. This wasn't a one off purchase, I have spent thousands there over the years. Does that make me special? Nope, but when it comes to supporting the community and locals, I would have thought there would be a little more grace involved.
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I don't think its wrong for me to want a product that works as intended. I didn't ask for a refund, or any special deals, I just want a product that I paid for. One that is free from defects and can be installed on the car. My only mistake was not taking my car out of winter storage, and installing it when it was first ordered. It's -30 degrees here for much of the winter, and no way to properly install the wing given those temperatures, which I guess is my fault and mistake. :iono: |
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How does it impact your ability to install it? Is it completely warped? Will it not be flush for a significant portion of the length? And yes, these blemishes are exactly what I would expect from a lower-priced offering. The blame in this case is shared mostly between the manufacturer (for not caring about the blemishes) and the customer (for shopping mostly on price, i.e. manufacturers will cater to the price demand and cut any needed corners to achieve that). The retailer selling that is mostly a middleman. Yes, some middlemen retailers step up, sometimes above and beyond, but not all of them do and it's certainly not the retailer's responsibility to provide quality control for the manufacturer. Quote:
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5 months after receiving a product is way too long a timeframe to file a complaint. The only comment I would have is the vendor could have used a bit softer language.
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...since then they could simply shift the issue one link further down the chain, and probably even fend off the customer until they receive a replacement or refund from the maker (or even just drop-shipper) of the wing, holding themselves completely harmless. I'm aware that this community is mostly US-based, so I am not too sure about the applicable laws there, i.e. if that 30-days-warranty holds any water, but regardless of jurisdiction, this treatment of a customer (longstanding or not), is just bad form and I personally am deterred from ever buying anything at that place. |
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Customer service that depends on which customer is being served or the specific customer service representative you happen to encounter is not something that needs to be encouraged. |
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I appreciate your input, though. And your desire to pin down why it won't fit. I believe that it is combination of the physical flaws on the underside, as well as the general shape of the wing (warping) that is making it this way. I am not asking for preferential treatment, I am asking them to consider that this was coming from a long standing customer who has spent thousands there. I worked in sales for two decades, and I 100% would provide bigger discounts to regular customers, or allow people I knew to return things outside the window, heck I even went above about beyond and spoke to them with respect! Imagine that? Its called good customer service. Difference in opinions here, regardless of the result, which is clearly that I paid $$$ for a product that is now essentially a paperweight to me without modifying it possibly fit, nobody that speaks that way to anyone deserves my business. If someone else had posted this, I would be saying the same thing. EDIT: Just to be clear here, this is not a "pity post", and I am not upset and making this thread because I think he should have just given me what I wanted; I am making it because I am in shock that that is how the owner of a business chooses to speak to customers. |
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Had he delivered his side in a professional manner, I would have never made the post. And being that this came from the owner, it speaks volumes about why there have been so many others with poor experiences. I guess I was just lucky up to this point. |
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As a constructive suggestion, I wonder if the wing will confirm to the trunk better once fully installed (i.e. not just a test fit). Is it supposed to be adhered with double sided foam pads or are there actual fasteners used? |
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Had a couple goood 25+cm snow dumps this year and being the nation's capital they salt the hell out of the roads. I'm about done with driving mine though the winter. Mostly just because of wear and tear winter adds. |
As wrong as it is, you kind of don't have a leg to stand on being so far out of the return window. There responses are pretty shitty though and I wouldn't buy from them solely based on that. I have taken care of a lot of things for my customers out of the return/warranty window but you are 5X past.
This is also why I always pull parts out of the package and inspect them when I receive them. |
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Return window is definitely long, but I understand that wasn't why you made the post.
Stinks to hear since I recently had a good email chain with Simon when my exhaust order went into limbo after they changed distributors. And again when I ordered a front pipe which they discontinued. |
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The point of my post was to show how the owner chooses to speak to customers. End of story. |
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Being that I am keeping it no matter, I may try to sand it down a bit in the high spots and wait until a really hot day to see if that helps. |
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The way I see it you have two courses of action. Contact the manufacturer, tell them the company you bought it from is a pain to deal with and you are having this issue. They may help you out but want you to ship the part to them. You can see if you can do a chargeback for faulty product. Even if you don't win it, you may be enough of a pain they just take care of it. |
I think it is pretty clear to OP that 5 months after the purchase there is barely anyone that will offer a return, unless it is an specific item with an specific warranty time frame, i.e., Edelbrock SC, headers, etc.
I would have to side with knapper in the sense that it is a really bad business practice to belittle your customer for making a "cheap" purchase, and basically tell them to go kick rocks and find somewhere else to buy. I have never seen a "customer service" rep reply to an email in that way. Basically telling OP "This is what you get when you buy cheap shit, and its your fault". On the other side of the token, the vendor is right in the sense that their suppliers won't exchange something 5 months after the fact, just completely and utterly went about it the wrong way. I agree in standing by your product, having accountability, just an unfortunate situation from both sides, but I would be wary of making purchases from a business that could possibly deny me an exchange because I went for the cheap stuff. Regardless of the time frame of my return. Anyway, lesson learned, OP. Always check gifts/purchases. |
Don`t get so upset with yourself that you did not check the product in due time, but it is your fault, whatever the reason. Their customer response, well, is they obviously don`t respect, want or need your business.
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I agree that the language/tone used was pretty unprofessional.
I don't think they are being unreasonable for declining your warranty request. You can't expect anything more than an "eBay" grade carbon fibre part for ~$300. Especially if it's been 5-6 months. Nothing stopped you from opening up the box to inspect for shipping damage or defects. |
I’ve had no negative with FT86MS until recently.
Dealing with Troy in the past was always seamless. Recently I’ve noticed many products on my ‘wish list’ have vanished from their site and inquiries has brought much higher prices. More recently, in February, I ordered four items for winter installation. The next day I received an email from Sylvain stating that the supplier prices had increased. I okayed the increased prices then heard back that one item was on back-order with no exact date. As it was only then Feb. I said it was okay to wait rather than cancelling that item. I received my shipment last week (last week of Apr.). It would seem that their 86 business is winding down. I will consider import future purchases. I have had great success with Cross Border Pickups for private sales from members in the US. |
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I’m surprised some on here are letting the vendor off the hook. Sure, 5 months is too long for an exchange etc. but the responses, to put it politely, the vendor comes across as a bit of a c**t.
He could have spent the same amount of time responding saying: “sorry for your experience but due to the timeline we are unable to assist and suggest you contact the manufacturer directly, here are their details…” etc. or even made a quick call to the manufacturer to see if they’d return/assist etc.,what a 10 minute phone call. OP, I think you handled yourself well, I’d post the email chain on his Facebook page or Instagram etc. and let others make up their own mind. This page has 600+ views already, looking at this I’d think anyone would be foolish to buy anything from them. |
Lol, "you bought the cheap version instead of a super high value product."
"But they wouldn't accept a return after 5 months anyways" So then why bring it up?... |
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All of your offered solutions above would have been a much better path, and to be honest had he responded that, I would have written write back "Yeah, I sort of figured it would be too late to rectify, but I appreciate your response." I posted a review on Google Review, which they responded already with a canned "we are so sorry for your experience, but we could not exchange this bla bla bla" never mentioning the disgusting language or apologizing for his behavior. So, I added an edit and all of the photos of the email exchange so that at least readers can see the truth. |
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I have history for my customers down to the invoice, tracking numbers, individual pallet/box weights and even when I can prove they are lying to me, I don't talk to them like that. I cordially go through the motions and oftentimes end up replacing items even when they lost or damaged them. |
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